


Do You Have A Second?

by cshmr



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-17
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:01:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23692021
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cshmr/pseuds/cshmr
Summary: A soulmate AU where the first words they say to you appear on your wrist.
Relationships: Ann Perkins/Chris Traeger, Leslie Knope/Ben Wyatt
Comments: 37
Kudos: 129





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hey! Just thought I'd say a couple of things before we start.  
> This chapter is short, but I'll make them longer when Ben and Leslie meet, I just want to do a couple of introductory paragraphs first.  
> Also, more characters and ships will show up later, not just the ones tagged for now  
> Finally, this is my first fanfic, so I hope you enjoy! :)

“Oh, I can’t believe it! You’re so grown up.”

“Mom!” Leslie huffs. She locks eyes with Ann and the girls giggle. They had been lying on their bellies on her bed, legs swinging in the air, looking at an old scrapbook filled with photos of the two of them when her mom walked in. “I’m not ten yet.”

Her mother ignores her protest and sits on the edge of the bed, watching the girls fondly. “I remember my tenth birthday.”

“I know, you-”

“Let me finish! Your tenth birthday is very special, you know.” Leslie does know. She has been given this lecture by her mother hundreds of times, and all she wants is to enjoy her sleepover with Ann, and not worry about tomorrow.

“I know.”

“It was one of the most exciting days of my life,” her mother continues. “When those words appear on your wrist tomorrow, you will be a changed girl. Finding out your soul words, the first words your soulmate will ever say to you, it’s... it’s magical.” Leslie’s mind drifts off, bored of hearing this speech for what feels like the millionth time, and her eyes wander to the old photos in her scrapbook. She didn't have to worry about all this soulmate nonsense back then! Of course, she’s excited about it as well, but what if her soulmate hated parks, or, god forbid, hated waffles? If her soulmate, the person who should be her one true love, hated waffles… she can't bring herself to finish that train of thought.

Ann nudges Leslie and she snaps back into reality. “I’ll stop boring you girls with my old stories and let you enjoy yourselves,” her mom says. Finally. “Don’t stay up too late, okay?”

Leslie waits until she hears her mother’s footsteps on the stairs before she starts talking. “What if I hate him?”

“Huh?”

“My soulmate. What if I hate him? Or what if he hates me, or what if he hates you, Ann! You! What if he’s a horrible person, and he abuses animals or hates babies or something? Or what if-”

“Les. I know he's not gonna be a bad person. If he’s your soulmate I don't think he can be. That’d be like if… I dunno, if a murderer and a superhero were soulmates. It wouldn't work. A really good person won't be matched with a bad one.”

Leslie rolled onto her side and looked Ann in the eyes. “Ann, you angelic, effervescent butterfly. I hope you're right.”

Ann smiles. “I know I’m right”

“Hey, show me yours again. I want to know what mine might look like.” Ann rolled up her sleeve, showing the words “April’s party?” on her wrist. “I wonder who April is.”

“I’ve been wanting to know who she was since I got it! But at least it’s pretty unique. I doubt more than one guy will introduce himself to me like that in my life.”

“I hope mine is unique too.”

//

Ben takes a look at his wrist before he goes to sleep, his room softly lit by moonlight shining through his thin curtains. His tenth birthday was a few months ago but he's still not used to seeing his soul words there, written in large, slightly messy handwriting: “Would you gentlemen like a tour?” He’d been trying to figure out what situation could possibly lead to this. He would definitely be with at least one other guy, and they'd probably be somewhere new. It could be anywhere, though - a museum, an office, a school. And he knows he probably won’t find out for years.

He stares at the Star Wars posters on his walls. Whoever it is, hopefully she’s nice. That’s all he really wants. It’d be good if she liked sci-fi too. Or history.

He hears a faint knock on his door. “Hmm?” he mumbles, half asleep. His brother opens the door, and light from the hallway fills the room.

“Mom sent me in to see if you were asleep,” Henry says, leaning against the door frame. “You still thinking about your soulmate?”

Ben nods.

“Don’t worry about it. There's nothing you can do.”

“I know, but still…” he trails off, wondering how he should finish that sentence. What if we don't like each other? Or I only see her once and then we never meet again? He doesn’t say anything, just waits for Henry to keep talking.

“Try to get some sleep, Benji,” he says with a smile. Ben nods again, and Henry leaves, closing the door behind him. Ben squints to try to see the words one more time. He doesn’t know why, but he can't get the thought of his soulmate off his mind tonight.

//

When Leslie wakes up, she and Ann are lying together on her bed, still wearing their clothes from yesterday. She guesses they fell asleep before they could change. Oh well. She tugs at the sleeve of her shirt - they’re slightly itchy - before she remembers why she was wearing long sleeves. 

Her soulmate! The first words he would ever say to her are on her wrist! She and Ann had wanted it to be a surprise for the morning of her birthday, so they had agreed to keep her wrist covered until she was ready. Leslie was ready now (no matter how early in the morning it may be), but she knows Ann won’t be up for hours.

“Ann, Ann, wake up!” Leslie yells, hitting her with a pillow. “It’s my birthday! Oh, beautiful Ann, wake up!”

She stirs and looks up at Leslie sleepily. “Les, why are you-”

“It’s my birthday!”

“Oh my god, it’s your birthday!”

“And that means I’ll finally know my soul words!”

“Do you want to look now?”

Leslie nods. “I had a speech prepared, but I don't think I can wait much longer before I look.” She pauses. “But it was a really good speech.”

“How long was it?”

“Six pages.” Ann grimaces. “Okay, fine. I have to say something though. So I’ll say this. This is a turning point in our friendship, Ann. Once I’ve revealed these words, we will be on our way to helping each other find our soulmates. And once we’ve found them, the four of us can live together in harmony.” Leslie hesitates, taking a deep breath. Ann squeezes her hand reassuringly.

Leslie takes the end of her sleeve and pulls it down. The writing is small and neat: “Do you have a second?” Leslie stares at it for a few seconds. This was proof, finally, that she had a soulmate. Not that anyone has been born without one, but still. She could have been the first person. But she’s not. She grins - somewhere, out there, there is someone who will say these words to her. Ann wraps her in a hug, squealing.

“Oh my god, Leslie!”

“Oh my god! I can't believe he’s real!”

She has a soulmate.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Thank you to the people who commented or gave kudos, it was really nice to see! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter (they'll get longer, I promise)

No matter what he’s doing, Ben Wyatt is always slightly on edge. He’s always listening, waiting to hear those six words - they aren't even anything particularly special, but they have come to mean so much to him. Every day that passes without finding his soulmate, he becomes slightly less hopeful. Slightly more convinced that he doesn’t actually have a soulmate, that this is all an elaborate prank from the universe. He tries not to be cynical, but it’s hard.

He’s only had one close call in the past. He was 17 years old, visiting the Minnesota History Center with Henry. They were approached by a young woman with a staff lanyard as soon as they entered. “Would you gentlemen like a tour?” she asked, smiling. “We have a couple of spots left…” Her voice seemed to fade away as Ben stared at her in shock, unable to move. Could this be his soulmate? His mind started to race, imagining what his life might be like with - he checks her badge - Amy. She was very pretty, and she seemed nice enough - he could hear Henry having a pleasant conversation with her as they walked over to where the rest of the tour group was waiting. That wasn’t surprising, though. Henry loved to flirt with women, that much he already knew, but he had the audacity to flirt with his brother’s soulmate? Ben was about to pull him aside and tell him about his suspicions when he noticed a silver band on her ring finger. He stayed silent for the rest of the tour, watching an oblivious Henry try desperately to win her over.

After that letdown, he vowed to himself to never confess to his soulmate unless he was sure of himself. Not that he’d confessed to Amy, of course, but he was planning to. He was more reckless when he was younger, but now he’s cautious. He doesn’t allow himself to daydream about his soulmate (and most of the time, he succeeds). Ice Town had changed him. Back then, he was nothing more than a kid trying to achieve some unrealistic dream, and now look at him - a responsible adult! Sure, he might be scared to take risks, but he’s just being realistic. Someone has to be.

“Oh Ben, doesn’t it sound amazing?” Ben stops staring out the car window and turns to look at Chris. The two still have a couple of hours left before they arrive in their next city, and Chris is already ecstatic. 

“I can't wait,” Ben mumbles. Just because he's used to getting death threats for doing his job, doesn't mean he’s looking forward to it. The few days of vacation between cities had felt like heaven. Nobody yelling at him for doing his job - in fact, nobody talking to him at all except for Chris - is a rare thing, and one he misses.

“Come on Ben, cheer up! Pawnee sounds like one of the greatest towns in the country.”

“Chris, it’s overrun with raccoons. It's known for its high levels of obesity.”

“I think it sounds quaint and charming. And I have a good feeling about it. I feel like this wonderful place is where you and I will finally find our soulmates!”

“You say that every time we go somewhere new”

“And I always mean it.”

Ben sighs. Realism is essential to be able to work with Chris.

//

“Paul!” Leslie exclaims, rushing down the hall to catch up with the City Manager. He doesn’t pretend not to hear her and speed up, which seems like a good sign. “Paul, I have tons of ideas for the summer!”

Paul sighs. “Leslie, I’m sure your ideas are amazing.”

“They are!”

“Right, but I actually have some big news that every department needs to know and I thought you’re more likely to tell your coworkers than Ron is. Do you have a second to talk?”

Every time someone says those words, her heart starts to race. Every damn time. Even now, even though it's not even the exact words, even though it’s Paul who she's known for years, it stops her, and she stands still for a moment. Just for a moment, and then she’s walking with Paul again.

“What is it? Have I finally got approval for the government-wide party in Ramsett Park? I knew you wouldn't be able to say no to _all_ my ideas! Okay, so, first things first, we call a meeting with all the department heads-”

“Les,” Paul says softly, and she realizes they've reached his office. She perches on one of the chairs in front of his desk, which is littered with paper and an open folder of spreadsheets. She sees a photo of Paul’s family on the beach, him talking to his daughter in the background as his grandkids play.

“Aww, your grandsons are so cute!” Leslie exclaims.

Paul cuts her off quickly. “Thank you. Leslie, I’m sorry, but the party isn't going to happen”

Leslie stares at him in shock. Her party, all her hard work, gone? “I-I’m sorry, what? I planned every detail, I’ve worked day and night, I’ve even hired the bouncy castles already!” She could feel her blood boil in her veins, and she didn't try to calm herself down. “I can’t believe- how could you? Everyone was looking forward to it-”

“Leslie.”

“-and everyone’s worked so hard all year, everyone deserves-”

“Leslie.” Paul sounds like he’s losing her patience, but she doesn't care. 

“-and I can't _believe_ -”

“Leslie!” She pauses, realizing she’s standing now, and she’s yelling. She mumbles an apology and sits back down. Not because she’s sorry for shouting at him - no, just to find out why her party was canceled and how she can bring it back. Paul eyes her to see if she’ll continue, and when she doesn't, he continues. “Our budget is… it’s not looking good. So the state has sent two auditors from Indianapolis. They’ll be here tomorrow to visit each department, and then they'll suggest changes to our budget.”

“Oh no,” Leslie mutters to herself.

“They'll probably stay for a couple of months, then we’ll be better off and they’ll go on their way.” Paul finishes. Leslie doesn't move, just sits still on her chair. She can't let the auditors touch her precious Pawnee. She can’t.

“Okay, so… so that means… Paul, we need to find a way to fight these guys! We can't let them hurt us.”

“They’ve come to help us. We have to let them.”

Leslie glares at him, the fury behind her eyes only rivaled by her fury towards Greg Pikitis. And those auditors now, as well. “You’re going to let them kill your town,” she states almost matter-of-factly. She stands quickly and almost runs out the door, pausing only to look at the photo on his desk. “You’re not even going to fight them to help your family.” Instantly, she knows she’s probably gone too far, and she sets off down the hall to her office.

//

Leslie paces in front of her desk as she clutches her phone desperately.

“Come on Ann, please, pick up, I need- Ann!” she shouts.

“Les, is everything okay? You sound louder than usual.”

“Ann, oh beautiful Ann, everything is not okay. The OPPOSITE of okay, Ann. The party is gone! The budget’s falling apart! And they’re sending two state auditors. And they're going to come and destroy everything I’ve built! They're going to slash and burn, and the entire government will come tumbling to the ground and my life will be over.”

“I’m really sorry Leslie. I know how much you wanted that party. But, and I know you don't want to hear this, you should probably try to keep an open mind about the auditors. Their job is to help you, after all. When are they coming?”

“Tomorrow,” Leslie replies, ignoring Ann's stupid comment about the auditors. The last thing she needs right now is a fight with Ann.

“Okay, do you want to stay over at mine tonight? I can pick you up from your office this afternoon and we can watch a movie or something together.”

“This afternoon is so far away though!”

Ann pauses. “I can come pick you up during your lunch break and you can take the afternoon off? My shift is almost over.”

“Ann, you are the most glorious person I’ve ever met. Meet me here at lunch, I have to go tell everyone else about our impending doom.”

“Good luck. I’ll see you later.”

“I love you.”

Leslie listens to her “I love you too” and smiles as she hangs up. Maybe, just maybe, this will be okay. She looks through the window in her office. April has put down her magazine for once and smiles, actually smiles as Andy (who spends increasingly less time at the shoeshine stand and increasingly more with April) shows her a chord on his guitar. Tom cleared out of their shared office when he saw her walk in looking like she wanted to kill someone; now, his head is hovering over Donna’s shoulder as she sits at her desk, scrolling through something on her computer. Even Jerry looks happy. He’s filling out some paperwork, but he has a coffee cup in his left hand, and bliss seems to cross his face every time he takes a sip. She looks past April to search for Ron, and his doors are closed, so he’s probably in a good mood too.

This is how it’s supposed to be. Her friends all together and happy, without the threat of budget cuts looming over their heads. Something hardens inside her as she thinks about her team. She can't let them down.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me a bit longer to update this time, but I hope you guys enjoy this next chapter!

Leslie leaves Ann’s house at 4:30 the next morning. Ann had filled her role of best friend perfectly: she listened to Leslie rant, made her pancakes, and watched You’ve Got Mail with her over and over until Leslie fell asleep on the couch. Leslie had left her a note saying she had gone into work early before grabbing her purse and setting off.

She feels calmer now as she drives through the dark. She knows it’ll be dawn in a couple of hours, the start of a new day. A day with all her friends, a day when they can resist the evil coming their way together. The lights from the street lamps start to blur, and she blinks back tears. No crying today, she reminds herself. Today, we fight.

//

Ben doesn't know how Chris managed to talk him into joining his morning jog, but he’s actually quite enjoying himself. It’s a chilly morning, but trying to keep up with Chris is a very good way of keeping warm. The city is nicer (well, less awful) than he was expecting, and he’s enjoying watching it wake up. Shutters opening, a child whining about going to school, the smell of the morning dew lingering on the air. It feels comforting, like a routine that Ben’s familiar with, somehow.

“Even you have to agree that Pawnee is a simply stunning place!” Chris exclaims as they turn a corner.

“It’s not bad.”

“I know you well, Ben. I know that means you love it.”

Ben smiles. Chris does know him well, better than most of his family. For years, they've been the only people there for each other. Well, Chris always manages to find a girlfriend wherever they go, but they don't really count. Ben still doesn't understand why he enjoys dating people who aren’t his soulmate. Chris says it’s for “the experience”. Ben has had enough experiences, thank you very much, and he’d rather have certainty or nothing.

Lord, he’s lucky to have Chris.

Ben opens his mouth to reply but finds himself panting instead. He knew Chris was fast, but not this fast. He seems to get faster as he gets older, and Ben is doing the opposite. He stops for a moment, one hand on his side, and Chris looks over.

“Come on Ben, we’re only jogging!”

Ben groans.

//

“Leslie, you’re even earlier than usual,” says a gruff voice, and she looks up from the spreadsheets she was pouring over, her eyes slightly bloodshot.

“Ron! You’re early too.”

“I knew you would be here. You’d better keep your cool today, I can’t have you getting yourself fired. I’d have to actually do work.”

“I’m not planning on losing my cool. I’m just going to tell them, passionately, why the parks department is essential to Pawnee and that they’d be insane if they cut even a cent of our budget.” Ron raises an eyebrow. “I won’t use those words exactly.”

“Just make sure you keep your job. I brought you a coffee.”

“Aww, Ron-”

“Stop talking if you want it.” She does and he sets it down on her desk. She grabs a sugar packet from her desk drawer, rips it open, and starts to pour it in. Ron watches as she takes a sip, makes a face, and pulls out another packet.

//

Paul told them about Pawnee and its government before they went around the building, stopping in each department they passed. The Head of Sewage is kind of a pervert, he told them, the Head of Health has marital problems and will talk about them to anyone who listens, the Director of Education is a hardass. Ben listened to Paul’s advice. The more he knows about each department, the easier his job is.

The three of them had visited most of the departments in what had been a weary morning for Ben. Chris had played his good cop role perfectly, chatting to everyone, promising a bright future, getting people’s hopes up. Then Ben swooped in and brought them crashing to the ground. The good cop/bad cop dynamic suits them perfectly even though they had never discussed it; Chris just happened to be the world’s most positive person who had the misfortune of being partnered with him. Ben doesn't mind it too much most of the time, but for some reason, it was really getting to him today.

“... and after lunch, you’ll need to visit City Planning, and Parks and Rec.”

“Paul! You haven’t told us anything about the lovely people in the Parks and Recreation department yet!”

“It’s an interesting one. Parks is run by Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope. Ron hates the government, and thinks it, including all the services his department offers, should be destroyed.”

“Sounds like an easy department then,” Ben says. Thank God for that. His morning was spent with people threatening him and sucking up to him, both of which he hates. Ron sounds like he won’t protest their cuts, which is exactly what he needs.

“Well, Leslie is… Let’s say she’s passionate. She’ll probably be your biggest problem. She told me she plans on fighting you two to prevent you from, quote, killing the town, unquote.”

Chris’s face falls. “Oh, dear. She sounds like she’ll be literally crushed by the budget cuts.”

Ben watches Chris. He can tell that he’s starting to panic at the thought of dealing with Leslie, and when Chris starts to spiral, they’re both in trouble.

“I can take over the meeting with her today if you want, Chris. I know you don't like to argue with people, and she sounds like a handful.”

“Benjamin Wyatt, you are the most thoughtful person I have ever met,” Chris says, placing his hands on Ben’s shoulders. 

//

“Everyone, the auditors are coming round any time now! We need to be prepared!” Leslie yells to her department. To her dismay, nobody seems to be listening except for Jerry - and does he even count? He doesn't count, she decides, as she sees April whisper something to Andy. “Do you have an idea you’d like to share?” God, she sounds like her mother.

“Why can't we just let them destroy everything?”

“April. That is not a productive attitude. The fact that these men are being allowed to come into our town and destroy it is an outrage! We need to destroy them with our knowledge! We need to fight them.”

“Can I try and seduce them?”

Leslie considers for a moment. She’s desperate, yes, but is that worth it? April’s still so young. “No way. Sorry.” April whispers to Andy again, and Leslie’s about to yell at her before a voice stops her.

“April’s right, we need to schmooze them,” Tom calls from across the room, looking up from his phone. “That’s how I got on Joan’s good side, it’ll work for a couple of boring nerds.”

“I think that might work. Not seducing them, but showing them that we’re a strong team and that we’re loyal to each other and…” Leslie trails off. And what? She knows her department isn’t the most essential, and as much as she loves her coworkers, not all of them are as dedicated as she wishes they were.

“Leslie, I know how we seduce them! Through the power of music.”

Leslie ignores Andy and starts to pace, mumbling to herself. She locks eyes with Ron who’s standing on the other side of the room silently, waiting for the auditors. She walks over to him, ignoring his sigh as he sees her coming.

“Ron? Do you have an idea? Please, Ron. Ron, please. Ron, we need-”

Ron holds up one hand to shush her, then points to the hallway. It had been quite quiet all day, but Leslie can hear footsteps approaching. She recognizes Paul’s voice and hears another man talking to him. She looks around her department hopelessly, desperate for one last idea to cling to. Nothing. So she pulls Ron into the center of the room and she listens, and she waits for the two men who are going to ruin her life to walk through the door.

//

Paul leaves them at the doorway, nodding to both of them before turning to return to his office. Ben feels relieved - the fewer people around when he crushes this department’s dreams, the better. Chris turns to him before they go in.

“ _Are you okay?_ ” he mouths silently. Ben nods.

They walk in to see a small department, with maybe six or seven people waiting for them. He glances at the two standing in the middle - they must be Ron and Leslie. The first thing he notices is how different the two of them look. Leslie is quite short, with blonde hair down just past her shoulder and a forced grin on her face. Definitely not Ben’s type, but she’s pretty. Ben’s eyes shift onto Ron, who he can only describe as intimidating. Ben looks to the floor and leans against a desk, letting Chris do the talking. This is going to be hard.

“...and this is Ben”

He hears Chris say his name and he glances up. He nods at Leslie and Ron politely, and she nods back. She already looks annoyed at him, still smiling but staring him down, as if challenging him to a fight. He looks away quickly, not wanting to get her too worked up already. He just wants to fix the budget and get out of here.

“I must say, this department seems amazing! And you all seem like lovely, welcoming people!” 

God, Chris always makes his job harder by doing this. Building people up only means they get angrier at Ben when he tells them the truth. But Ben has never been able to bring himself to tell Chris to stop; after all, if Chris can deal with Ben’s general lack of interest in everything he enjoys, Ben can deal with this.

“Thank you, Chris!” Leslie beams, a genuine smile this time, one that says that she thinks everything will be alright. 

Ben prepares to zone out again, before he hears the words he’s been waiting to hear his entire life, the words he’s heard in his dreams so many times. The words that are now coming out of the mouth of the woman who hates him.

“Would you gentlemen like a tour?”

Ben can’t hear Chris’s response, his own thoughts deafening him. It had to be her. She had to be his soulmate. It’s not exactly a common phrase. He thinks back to the only other time he’s heard those words, and he looks at her hand. No ring. 

Of course, he’s finally met his soulmate, and she already hates him. His heart is racing now, and he needs to get out. He wants to grab Chris and run outside, explain everything to him, explain how for once Chris needs to take the hard job. But he can’t. Ben’s always thought that his life was one big trick played by the universe, and now he’s almost certain. This has to be another mistake. His soulmate hates him. 

This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen.

“What do you think, Ben?” Chris asks.

 _We need to leave, now_ , is what Ben thinks. _I need to tell you something important._ But, of course, he can’t say any of that, and he finds himself mumbling something to Chris about it being a bad idea. He ignores Leslie’s glare boring into the side of his head and instead watches Chris, who of course ignores him and the tour starts.

He should never have come to this town

//

The first thing Leslie thinks about Benjamin Wyatt is that his hair looks kind of cute.

The second thing she thinks is that he’s an ass.

He’s silent during the tour, even refusing to comment on her stacks of idea binders full of possible solutions. He’s acting strangely, even for someone who’s a heartless monster. He looks extremely uncomfortable and shifts back and forth on his feet whenever he’s standing still. Her efforts to get him to talk fail, so she decides to work on Chris instead. He seems like he’ll be easy to soften up and win over. She sees Ron and Ben talking to each other on the opposite side of the room - unsurprisingly, Ron prefers the rude, silent Ben out of the two auditors. Now is a perfect time to - what was it that Tom said? - schmooze Chris. Time to save her department.

“So how long have you and Ben been working together?”

“Ben and I have been working together for eight years, and I have enjoyed every single moment of it. He’s literally the best person I know.”

Leslie already had her mouth open to speak, but she pauses for a second. Chris, the most positive person on earth (he was nice to _Jerry_ , for God’s sake), enjoys working with Ben? The man who spent her entire tour sulking and refusing to speak to her? This took Leslie by surprise, though she tried not to show it.

“Do you know him well? He doesn't seem very… talkative”

“Ah. Well, Ben is a numbers guy, as he likes to say. He says thinking about the people behind the numbers is too depressing, which I totally understand - I have to take lots of pills to avoid depression, you know. I don’t know why he doesn't try and make friends when we travel through. He misses out on charming people like you!” 

Leslie thanks him and then sees Ben walking over. He pulls Chris away without so much as a look in Leslie’s direction. The two start to talk in the conference room. Leslie tries to casually saunter over to listen in, but Ron notices and stops her with a glare. She stands by him instead, wringing her hands.

“I wonder what they're saying.”

“Don’t bother. Just let them do their job.”

“I knew it! I knew that auditor was evil! You spoke to him, and now he’s convinced you to fire everyone, and shut down the department and burn the parks down!” She tries not to raise her voice but she obviously failed, judging by the fact that Andy and April have turned to stare at her. Ron ignores them.

“He’s not evil. He’s just a man trying to do his job. I feel sorry for him, stuck with that annoying, hyperactive one.” Leslie feels her rage build up inside her and she decides that she needs to stand up for poor Chris. She starts to speak when she sees him walk over to them. She hears Ron mutter something vulgar under his breath, and ignores him.

//

Ben watches Chris as he gives his umpteenth motivational speech of the day. Something about kids and carousels, the same old truth-twisting nonsense he always says. The department starts to clap and Chris smiles at Ben. Ben manages to smile back.

When Ben had pulled him aside, Chris told Ben that he looks stressed. He told Ben that Leslie Knope had mentioned him. She had asked why Ben was so quiet, which Ben interpreted as her asking “why is Ben such a dick?”. Ben had just told Chris that he was tired, and he seemed to buy his excuse. Really, he’s in shock. His normally logical thoughts are now a swirling hurricane, all of them terrifying and nasty and begging to be heard at the same time. Most of them are just the words “Leslie” or “soulmate” or “hate”. All of them scare him.

Chris brushes past Ben’s shoulder as he leaves. Now he’s alone, and soon it’ll be just him and Leslie - Ron had asked him if he could sit out on the first meeting to play catch with the boy who is now playing his guitar. Ben hadn’t been able to respond, and Ron had just patted his shoulder and said “good lad”. So now Ben has to face his soulmate for the first time, alone.

He looks at the words on his wrist. That soulmate, the one he had been expecting seems so different from the one he got. For starters, he wasn't expecting her to hate him before he set foot in the room. He’s always loved the writing on his wrist, the large loops on the y and the g, the way it seems so effortless in a way he could never imagine. He pushes his sleeve back down his wrist. Now is not the right moment to figure this out. He just needs to take this one step at a time, even though the first step is the one that scares him the most.

//

Leslie doesn’t know why, but right now she feels kind of bad for Ben. He looks a lot less threatening now that he’s alone. He doesn’t seem able to make eye contact with anyone else in the room. She watches him curiously as he rolls up his sleeve. He’s looking at his soul words, she realizes. Probably thinking about his girlfriend back home. She expects to see him smile, but he doesn’t - if anything, he looks almost mournful. Leslie’s moment of weakness vanishes, any pity for him gone. If anything, she pities his girlfriend - if that’s how he looks when he thinks about her, she should dump him. Horrible people aren’t capable of human emotions, she supposes. 

He sees her watching, and they lock eyes again. He looks away quickly and Leslie stands up slightly straighter. She has to remember who she’s dealing with - a man who wants to destroy everything she loves. He mutters something to himself, then walks over to her. 

She prepares to fight. 

And then she hesitates.

Because Ben Wyatt just said her soul words. 

“I, uh… What did you just say?”

“Do you have a second?”

No. No way. She grabs to hold to the desk next to her, suddenly feeling slightly dizzy. She hears those words a lot, but she’s never heard them from a stranger before.

“Oh. Uh, sure. Let me get my spreadsheets,” she stammers, and sprints into her office. She slumps down in her chair, trying to get her thoughts straight. Just because he said that, doesn't mean he’s her soulmate. Anyway, this isn’t how people meet their soulmates. When soulmates meet, it’s always romantic or funny or sweet or some combination of the three. It never starts with two people who hate each other. She fiddles with the wooden stirrer she had used to stir her coffee. Ben definitely noticed how long she’s taking, because he shoots a look at her through the glass, a look that says _hurry up_ and _why are you taking so long?_ She grabs her binder and stands up with a jolt. She nods to him, but he's already turned away from her to go to the conference room. 

_What a jerk!_ she thinks. It’s only a couple of seconds later that she realizes she had just snapped the coffee stirrer in half.

//

Ben learns a few things about Leslie during their meeting.

The first is that she really does hate him. She doesn't hesitate to call him a heartless jerk as soon as she steps into the room. Not a great thing to hear from your soulmate.

The second is that “passionate” is an understatement. She talks in length about all the things she wants to do and tells him time and time again that she won’t let him get in her way. Most of her ideas are good, but he can’t tell her that now. So he tries to keep things impersonal and ask about her coworkers. He quickly figures out that he’s made a mistake.

“Jerry Gergich is a lovely man and one of our close friends and a valued member of this department!” She’s yelling now, and he can feel the eyes of everyone else in the department on him. He distinctly remembers Ron’s assistant threatening to kill him if he hurts Leslie, and he doesn't doubt her.

“Miss Knope, please-”

“Why are you so strict? Why do you only care about the numbers and not the people? Why do you want to hurt us so badly, Ben?”

Something about the way she says his name upsets him. “Firstly, I focus on the numbers because that’s my job,” he says, not noticing that his voice is rising to match her volume. “That’s the entire reason I’m here, because you can't focus on them enough. And secondly, I don't want to hurt you. The people who are hurting you are your city councilors! Chris and I are here to help. Anyway, why are you so upset with me? You and Chris seemed to be getting along just fine!”

“I got along with Chris because he’s nice! He actually cares about people, and you’re just here to… to ruin everything!” She continues yelling, and Ben can feel his eyes start to well up with tears. He blinks them back quickly and waits for her to finish. She does, and when he doesn't reply she looks at him with a confused expression that can only mean _why aren’t you yelling back?_ He swallows hard before he speaks.

“I’ll get what I need from the spreadsheets,” he says, a lot softer than before. “Thanks.”

The third thing that he learns is that he cares what she thinks about him, and he learns it when he grabs her binder and sweeps out the department before she has time to notice that his voice was breaking when he spoke to her.

//

Leslie sinks down into her seat. She knew that picking a fight with the auditors was a big mistake, but she doesn't care about that. She’s just happy she’s finally figured out if Ben is her soulmate or not. She thought she knew earlier, and now she’s sure.

Nobody that cold or callous could ever be her soulmate. And she’s glad she yelled at him.


	4. Chapter 4

Ben had managed to suppress his feelings during the day, mostly by ignoring everyone and pouring himself into the spreadsheets. He was planning to stay at work late into the night until Chris asked him to come to a party for Ron’s assistant, whose name he now knows to be April. 

He’s now standing awkwardly next to Chris, who had presumably noticed his bad mood and decided the best remedy for it was socializing. The music in this club is loud, far too loud, and Ben’s head is pounding. He takes another sip of his beer. Chris yells something about dancing and Ben shakes his head, and soon Ben finds himself leaning against one of the walls, watching Chris dance _very_ energetically. 

This night could be okay. He can just hang around with Chris, be introduced to a variety of people he won’t remember in the morning, and leave before eleven. He starts to feel slightly optimistic - it couldn't be any worse than his day was, after all - until he sees Leslie sitting at a table on the other side of the bar, glaring at him.

Great.

//

“Okay, so Chris is the nice one. What did that Ben guy do?”

“He’s horrible!” Leslie whines, throwing back another shot. “Chris said a bunch of nice stuff and he said they wouldn’t need to cut much of the budget. Then Ben told me it needs to be cut fifty percent, and that he wants to fire Jerry! Can you believe it? And do you know what the worst part of all of this is?”

“What?”

“The first thing he said to me was my soul words, Ann. And that means when I meet my soulmate, who will be charming and sweet, not like Ben, I’ll be reminded of him! I mean, how _dare_ he say those words! They're meant to be special!”

“He does sound kind of mean, I guess.” Ann pauses to take a sip of her drink. “Les, I know you don’t want to hear this, but… have you considered the possibility that he is your soulmate?”

“Ann, you naive bunny rabbit, I admire your pure soul, but you need to stop assuming nice things about people. Some people don't deserve it, and one of those people is him. He’s evil!” She ignores Ann’s look of skepticism.

“I believe you if you say so, but you could try to… Oh my god, he’s walking over here. Look!” Ann points at him and sure enough, he’s walking towards her. Leslie’s blood starts to boil. Why is he here with her friends, trying to ruin a happy night? “Leslie, try to be professional.”

“Oh, don't worry. I will be.”

//

Ben takes a deep breath before he gets to the table where Leslie is talking to her friend. _You have to do this_ , he keeps telling himself. _You need to talk to her_. Leslie folds her arms, giving him a dirty look.

“Um, hi, Leslie.”

“Hello, Ben,” she replies, coldly. Her friend looks at him - not with the look of anger he was expecting, but rather curiosity. Well, definitely some anger. She’s probably been told lots of bad things about him, he guesses, and she’s wondering which are true and which are Leslie exaggerating. He’s wondering the same thing.

“I feel like we got off on the wrong foot, and I came to-”

“Save your breath.”

How is he supposed to respond to that? “I-”

“Why are you even here, Ben? This party is for my friends, and you’re trying to fire all my friends.” Leslie starts, already standing up.

Is she seriously going to yell at him again? Good lord. He shouldn’t be this affected by what she thinks about him, but he can't stop himself. Her friend’s look now turns to one of pity, and she downs her cocktail. “I’m going to get another drink,” she blurts out, and escapes over to where Chris and Tom are sitting. 

“I can't believe you have the audacity to destroy my friend’s lives and now you’re coming here and acting like everything is fine! You're a cold, callous person, Ben, and I’m going to make my own plan, to save this town from you. And I’ll take it to Chris because he’s a nice person and he won’t just say no before reading it like you would! I can't wait for you to leave Pawnee.”

She seems to realize she’s gone a bit too far, and that she shouldn’t be insulting the auditor who has the power to fire her on the spot, because she flushes a dark shade of crimson. She doesn't take anything back though, merely just sinks back down onto her seat.

He refuses to think about all the things she just said about him, even though he knows they’ll be swirling around his head all night. Right now, he just needs to stay professional, and not retaliate and tell her all the things she did to him. He can’t deal with another argument today. He just needs to find a way to stay calm.

“Okay, well, I just wanted to say I was sorry for earlier and that I hoped we could move on, but… I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then, Leslie.”

“Get out of here!”

“Sorry.”

Ben turns away from her. He notices Chris call him over and rushes to him gratefully. Ron glances at him as he passes. Ben’s not sure what the glance means, whether it’s anger on Leslie’s behalf, pity, or something else entirely. Ben hopes it wasn’t the former - the last thing he needs is for this terrifying man to be yelling at him too.

“Ben Wyatt!” Chris points at him excitedly, his face only falling when Ben doesn’t return his grin. “Are you okay, buddy? You’ve been acting strange all afternoon. Do you need more vitamin D? I have some pills with me.”

Ben shook his head. “I’m fine,” he says, trying to put on a convincing smile. “Today was a bit stressful, that’s all.”

“Well then, allow me to introduce you to the lovely Ann Perkins!” Ben extends his hand and Ann shakes it. She beams at Chris, and Ben tries to ignore the uneasy feeling in his stomach and the pounding in his head.

//

Leslie watches as Ann shakes Ben’s hand. Poor, beautiful Ann. She had looked so happy talking to Chris, and here Ben comes to ruin it. She watches them. They talk for a bit, and then a genuine smile appears on Ben’s face. Leslie’s surprised that he even feels happiness, and is even more shocked when Ben stands to give Chris a hug, and the two hold it for a few seconds. She’s so fixated on them she doesn’t notice someone sit down near her until they speak.

“You having fun tonight, Leslie?”

She spins around sharply to see Ron, who’s staring at Ben as well. “Not really,” she sighs.

“Did you enjoy your second loud conversation with Ben? The state auditor who holds your fate in his hands like a small bird?”

“He deserved it! He’s cold and unfeeling, and I yelled at him. So what?”

“He’s getting along fine with everyone else,” Ron points out. That stops Leslie for a second. He _had_ been pleasant enough to everyone else - even Ron had managed to say something positive about him. 

“Why do you like him, anyway?”

“Like is an overstatement. I don’t hate him.”

“Fine then, why don't you hate him?”

Ron’s face breaks out into a grin, something Leslie rarely sees. “He told me that they’re going to gut the budget with a machete,” he giggles. This only serves to make Leslie angrier, and now she wants to stab Ben with a machete. Or Ron; she’s not sure.

“Oh my God. You only like him because he wants to slash the budget?” Ron stays silent. “You see, that’s why he hates me. I’m the person in the department with the most motivation, the most drive, and he wants to tear me down! I mean, he’s been so horrible to me for no reason!”

“What’s he done?”

“He yelled at me, Ron! I know you heard it.”

“And I heard you yell first.” Leslie finally looks away from the bar where Ann and Ben are now talking. She stares at Ron, incredulous. Is he really trying to blame this on him? “All I’m saying is: try not to get fired. Because if you do they'll give me all the work you normally do to improve the parks. And I won’t do any of it,” he says matter-of-factly, before heading back to where he was before with Donna.

Leslie watches him leave, then pouts, mumbling to herself under her breath. “and Ann is... I can’t believe… going to kill him..." She snaps out of it when her phone buzzes. One message shows up from My Majestic Bestie. An echo of a smile appears on Leslie’s face as she opens the text, not catching Ann’s worried glances from across the room.

_Hey, are you okay? Ben said you seem upset_

Why is Ben talking about her - and to her best friend? It’s none of his business how she feels. She hastily types a response.

_Don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth_

_And I’m fine. Don't worry_

She watches as Ann reads her response and says something to the men. Chris spins around to look at her, sitting alone, and Leslie quickly turns her head and pretends that she’s not looking. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Ben grab his shoulder and turn him back around, muttering something. Chris shrugs his arm off and gets up, walking in Leslie’s direction.

“Hey! Leslie Knope!” he calls, and she waves. Why did Ben try and stop Chris from talking to her? She looks back to the bar. He and Ann seem to be getting along. What is his problem? First, he tries to stop someone from being nice to her, and now he’s corrupting her best friend. And all in the span of thirty seconds.

She meant what she had said. She can’t wait until he’s gone.


	5. Chapter 5

“Wait, are you serious?” Ben asks.

“Yes! Isn’t it literally the best thing you’ve ever heard?”

Ben smiles, the first genuine smile on his face all day. Chris squeezes Ann’s hand. Ben can’t believe his friend’s luck. _Of course his soulmate turned out to be pretty, nice **and** not repulsed at the thought of him_, a voice in his head says bitterly. He tries not to look over to Leslie. He can’t be sour for long though - Chris deserves an amazing soulmate. _And you don’t_ , the voice finishes, but he pushes it away.

“Oh my god, that’s amazing!” Ben says, and pulls Chris off his barstool and into a hug. Ben doesn’t let him go quickly, like he normally does when he hugs someone. He’s truly happy for his friend (and yes, sad for himself, but he’s trying not to think about that), and he doesn't realize he’s being more affectionate than usual until Chris pulls away first. The two men sit back down, both grinning from ear to ear. The three talk for a little while. Ann seems nice - she doesn’t seem to hate Ben based on whatever Leslie had told her, so that’s something.

He glances at Leslie - she’s still staring at him.

“Um, Ann? You might want to check on Leslie. I… don’t think she’s feeling great.”

Ann squints across the room. “It looks like she’s talking to Ron. I’ll text her.” Chris puts an arm around Ann and watches her compose a message. Ben debates ordering another beer, but settles on a glass of water - he wants to be able to drive himself home, and he wants to do it soon.

Ann’s phone is lying face-up on the table when it pings. Before she grabs it, Ben sees the first message that Leslie sent.

_Don’t believe anything that comes out of his mouth_

God, what’s her problem? All he did was tell one of her friends to check up on her, and now she’s even angrier at him. Ben looks down, fiddling with a napkin. 

“She says she’s fine,” Ann says, and Ben jerks his head up. She doesn’t mention the first message.

Chris turns around to look at Leslie with no subtlety at all. “She doesn’t look fine. She looks like she could use some cheering up! We could go tell her the good news, Ann!”

Ben tenses up, the unpleasant bitter feeling returning. “She said she’s fine,” Ben replies coldly, grabbing Chris by the shoulder and jerking him around before Leslie can see them. “No point bothering her.”

Chris furrows his brows. “No, I think we should go over there.”

“You can go ahead. I want to stay behind for a second and talk to Ben,” Ann tells him suddenly. “Just wait until I arrive to tell her, okay?” Chris nods and kisses her cheek, then walks over to Leslie. Ben wishes he had stayed - he doesn't need another person yelling at him. He waits for her to talk first.

“Look, I know Leslie is difficult, but she’s my best friend. If you hurt her, you will regret it. I don’t care if it’s your job.” She pauses. “I don’t believe everything she told me - you don’t seem like a heartless monster. But you’d best watch yourself, Wyatt.”

Ben just watches her for a couple of seconds, before he finally replies. “She said I was a heartless monster?” His voice is slightly softer than normal and even though Ann probably doesn’t notice, he does. _Why can’t you control yourself?_ the voice yells. _She’s going to figure it out_. Ben ignores it again. He expects Ann to backtrack - after all, she knows he’s Leslie’s superior and has the power to fire her - but she doesn't. She just stares back at him, unwavering. “Fucking hell,” he mumbles.

“What did you say?”

“Nothing.”

//

Leslie was genuinely happy that Chris came to talk to her, especially when she realized he was an exceptional hugger. She pulled away from him quickly, not wanting him to be infected by her bad mood too. Now, they sit in silence.

“I know we just met, but if you want to talk to me you can.”

Leslie shakes her head. “It’s nothing. Thanks though.”

“No problem.”

He follows her gaze as her eyes drift off to the bar again. It’s almost a reflex for her at this point. Ann seems to be saying a lot, and Ben is saying very little - hopefully she’s giving him a piece of her mind. Chris clears his throat and Leslie can tell that he’s unsure about what he’s going to say next.

“I know you don’t like Ben very much,” he starts gingerly, and Leslie has to suppress a snort. She hasn’t heard a bigger understatement in her life. “But he isn’t as bad as you think. That’s all I’m going to say.”

“Okay.”

//

Their conversation had become a bit better once Ben had asked Ann to change the subject. The atmosphere is still awkward, but at least she’s not threatening violence anymore. Ann glances at her wrist a lot, and Ben tries to be happy for her, but when Chris left he seemed to have taken Ben’s good mood with him.

“So have you met your soulmate?” Ann asks. Ben knows she doesn't mean to upset him - it’s not a particularly personal question - but it hurts anyway.

“Uh, I think so?” He does _not_ want this woman to know his suspicion. “But we’re not… together or anything.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” Ben checks his watch - 10:30. _Time to go_ , he thinks. He stands up with a jolt, having already paid for his drinks, and turns to say goodbye to Ann.

“Well-”

“Can I have your number?”

“I- what?”

“Next time you need to give Leslie some bad news, tell me first. Then I can show up and distract her so you don’t get yelled at again.”

“Um, thanks?” Ben’s unsure why she wants his number - he suspects she has a motive other than helping him. Then again, Leslie already hates him, and he’s pretty sure Ann does too. He doesn't really have much to lose. He fishes a pen out of his pocket and writes his name and number on his napkin. For a second, he thinks he sees Ann look at it strangely, as if he spelled his own name wrong. But her expression quickly changes, and she stuffs the napkin into her pocket.

“Tell Chris I said bye,” Ben says, then gets up and heads towards the door, desperate to be alone. His phone chimes after a few seconds and he looks at the message.  
_  
This is Ann. Don’t use your name when you reply or Leslie will kill me_

He sighs and types a response.  
_  
Enjoy the party  
_  
And he steps out of the bar and into the night.

//

Leslie’s pretty sure the entire club can hear her squeals of joy, but she doesn't care. She grabs Ann and tackles her into a hug.

“Ann! I can’t believe it” Leslie yells. The person in the neighboring booth glares at her, and Leslie only starts yelling louder. “ANN, YOU MAGNIFICENT PEPPER MOTH, I KNEW YOUR SOULMATE WOULD BE JUST AS AMAZING AND BEAUTIFUL AS YOU, AND I WAS RIGHT!” Chris beams, and Leslie waves him over to join the hug. “YOU TWO ARE BOTH SO KIND AND PRETTY, AND I KNOW I JUST MET YOU, CHRIS, BUT I LOVE YOU SO MUCH. AND I LOVE YOU EVEN MORE, ANN.”

“Les, how much have you drunk tonight?”

“NOT MUCH. I’M JUST SO EXCITED!” Leslie replies. “BUT I NEED TO HEAR THE WHOLE STORY!” They all pull away from the hug at last, and Leslie looks at the two of them. They both look so happy, and when Chris puts his arm around Ann’s waist, Leslie notices a strange feeling bubbling inside her, one she’s not used to.

Jealousy, she suddenly realizes. And she knows why. 

She’s never had a boyfriend. Ever since her tenth birthday, she’s been waiting to find her soulmate. And today she had to meet and talk to a horrible man (who could be her soulmate, even though she shudders at the thought), while her best friend found true love. She’s not jealous often, and she doesn’t like it. The unfamiliar feeling leaves a sour taste in her mouth, so she pushes it back quickly. She _is_ happy for her friends - but she can’t stop thinking about the man with ~~cute~~ horrible hair who wants to ruin her life.

//

“You good, Ben?”

Ben slouches in his chair and takes another sip of his coffee. Unsurprisingly, he hadn’t been able to get much sleep the night before. He finally managed to fall asleep around 4 am, and ended up sleeping through his alarm. He barely had enough time to throw on some clothes and pack his briefcase, let alone eat breakfast - but he’s not about to tell Chris that.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he tells Chris, who’s watching him from across their office as if he expects Ben to collapse at any second.

“Are you sure? Do you need some magnesium? It’s really good for hangovers.”

Ben sighs. “I’m not hungover, I just… didn’t get much sleep. And I’m not looking forward to telling Leslie the news.”

Chris just nods. Ben knows that he’s aware of what Leslie thinks of him. What he’s not aware of are the words on Ben’s wrist. He’s never told anyone in his life what those words are, and he has no intention of telling Chris now.

He instinctively tries to tug his sleeve down to cover them, but stops. People can't see your soul words unless you want them to, after all. And Chris is on the other side of the room anyway.

An alert pops up on his computer - a calendar event. _Parks Meeting. 10 am._ He looks up, hearing a knock on the door. Of course she’s right on time. Chris gets up to open it, and Ben quickly fixes his eyes on his screen, wishing more than anything that he could hide behind it.

//

When Leslie sees Ben, all she feels is guilt. She knows that the budget cuts aren't really his fault, and she definitely shouldn't have yelled at him when he showed up to apologize. She doesn’t even have being drunk as an excuse - she certainly hadn’t been sober but she still remembers the entire night, clear as day. And now Chris is saying something about bad news, and Ron is looking gleeful, and she’s sure she’s going to be fired.

“... and you really are an amazing employee-”

“Can I speak to Ben for a moment, please?” she blurts out, interrupting Chris’ spiel. He looks up from his desk in the corner where he had been studying something on his computer (and trying to avoid eye contact, she assumes). Leslie recognizes the look of apprehension on his face from the night before. She can’t blame him.

“Uh, sure. In the hallway?” Ben asks. He sounds calm, but Leslie notices panic behind his eyes, like a deer caught in headlights. She knows he’s expecting another fight.

Leslie nods and leaves the room quickly, not pausing for Ben to follow behind. Ron glares as she passes, obviously not looking forward to being alone with Chris. She sits on a bench nearby Chris’ office, underneath one of the less-graphic murals (a picture of Mary Eschers, early Pawneean feminist, being locked in her kitchen as a punishment for trying to vote) and waits for Ben. He sits on the other end of the bench, not looking at her. She takes a deep breath.

“So, I want to apologize.” He turns his head and watches her as she continues. “I shouldn’t be mad at you for doing your job, and I shouldn't have yelled at you when you tried to apologize to me.” 

“Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I was an ass. Twice. So I’m sorry.”

He smiles slightly - something Leslie thought she’d never see. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you either. I’m not normally that mean, it was just… a bad day.”

Leslie smiles back. “It’s okay, I get it.” She sees him breathe out sharply as if he’s been holding his breath for a while.

“Well, this was nice, but you’re probably going to be pretty upset with me again in a minute. D’you want to hear the bad news now? I expect Chris has told Ron.”

She nods, her mouth suddenly feeling very dry. She knew apologizing wouldn't be enough to change his mind about firing her, but it had made her feel a little better at least.

“We’re going to cancel all your community services. Indefinitely.”

//

Ben watches her, waiting for the explosion.

But it never comes.

She just stares at him, mouth agape, waiting as if she expects him to say “Just kidding!”. But he doesn't, and he recognizes the way the hope starts to drain away from her. And for a second, he sees himself in her. He sees a different Ben, young and optimistic about government, and he remembers how the hope was sucked away from him too. He can’t let Leslie get like him, bitter and paranoid. He swallows, a lump forming in his throat.

“I-I’m really sorry. I didn't want to cut them, but we had no choice.” No reaction. “If it makes you feel any better, we’ve had to cut services run by all-”

‘Stop it.”

“What?”

“Stop talking. I already know you don’t care about the services, you don’t need to lie. B-but why did you cancel them?”

“It wasn’t-”

“Even the children’s concert tomorrow? The Freddy Spaghetti concert?” She’s still calm on the outside, at least. Ben’s thankful that she isn't yelling again but he knows she’s definitely upset with him.

“I'm sorry, Leslie.” She looks away from him, but not before he sees her eyes well up with tears. “I really am.”

She just shakes her head. They sit in awkward silence for a minute or two, Leslie’s head in her hands and Ben thoroughly wishing he was somewhere else, before Leslie’s phone chimes. She pulls it out of her bag, and even though Ben can’t see it, he knows it’s from Ann. He had texted her that morning, telling her about the cuts. Leslie looks up from her phone.

“Bye,” she mumbles, and hurries off.

Ben doesn't even have time to reply before she's gone.

//

Leslie flings herself into Ann’s arms dramatically the second she sees her waiting in her office.

“What’s wrong?”

“Mean Ben, that’s what wrong! He-” Her voice breaks off suddenly as she confronts the reality of the situation. Talking about it makes it so much scarier, somehow. Ann quickly guides her into one of the two green chairs they had rescued from the pit. Leslie hears her whisper something and then someone leaves the room - it must have been Tom, she realizes. Leslie buries her head in Ann’s chest, not looking up at her.

“He got rid of all our services,” she mumbles.

“Huh? I can’t hear you very well. He did what?”

Leslie lifts her head slightly, just enough so that her voice won't be muffled anymore. “Canceled our services.” She sniffs, and she hears Ann sigh.

“I’m so sorry, Leslie, that's awful! For how long?”

“Indefinitely. Even the Freddy Spaghetti concert tomorrow, on the lot - it’s all been planned out, everything’s ready, I ended up having to pay for most of it anyway, and now it’s gone.” 

Saying it out loud was the tipping point for Leslie, and she bursts into tears, leaning her head on Ann again. All her hard work, all for nothing. More importantly, the children will be so disappointed - the annual concerts mean a lot to them. Ann strokes Leslie’s hair gently. She always does that when Leslie’s upset, and even though it isn't making her feel better, it’s certainly stopping her from feeling even worse.

“I think I have an idea…” Ann pauses, but Leslie doesn't interrupt. “But I need to know, did you yell at Ben today?”

Hearing Ben’s name makes Leslie feel sick. “No, but I should have. I apologized to him instead.”

“No, it’s good that you apologized!” She pushes Leslie up and off her chest, looking her in the eyes. “It means you’ve got a free pass to break the rules.”

“I don’t like to break rules-”

“You said you paid for lots of the stuff yourself, right?”

“Yeah, I hired the food stands and extra entertainment for the kids, Paul said it would be over budget otherwise. But I don't get-”

“So that means that apart from Freddy, everything else will still show up at Lot 48 tomorrow, right?”

Leslie furrows her brows. “Yes? I don't understand…” She trails off, suddenly realizing what Ann was saying. “Are you suggesting,” she continues, slowly, “that we should just hold the concert anyway?”

Ann nods, grinning widely. Leslie wipes her eyes with her sleeve, then looks up at her best friend.

“Ann, you devious bastard. Let’s get to work.”

//

Ben yawns. He knows he should probably be asleep, but he’s desperate to finish the cuts as quickly as he can. The sooner he finishes, the sooner he can focus on building the town back up - and hopefully, the sooner Leslie won’t hate him. 

He reluctantly moves onto the department he’s been dreading - Parks and Rec. He glances at the numbers. The names, of course, he had covered with sticky notes as soon as he got the spreadsheets. It’s what he always does - separate the numbers from the people. When Chris noticed him doing it a couple of months into their partnership, Ben said it was just to avoid any bias. The real reason he does it is because it feels less personal. It feels less like hurting real people, and more like a puzzle or a riddle that he needs to crack. 

It’s the only thing that keeps him from feeling like a monster.

He quickly eliminates the employees with the lowest salaries - he always tries to only fire one or two people from each department when he can help it, and that can’t be done if he fires the ones who make the least. He finally narrows it down to three candidates - the three highest earners. Ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, he excludes the highest - can’t fire the boss.

Two left now. The difference between their salaries is quite significant - enough to make it worth firing the second highest. His fingers brush against the post-it, and he hesitates.

_Please, don’t let it be her. It can't be her._

But even before he pulls it off, he knows it will be.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I've had a ton of work to do recently so I wasn't able to do much work on this for a while. Here's a new chapter, though, and I hope you guys enjoy it!

She takes a break to watch.

The sun’s shining brightly, and the hay bales almost look like they’re glowing in the light. The lot buzzes with activity: food vendors setting up their stalls, the bouncy castle inflating, and kids who are walking past stopping to get their faces painted. Leslie really couldn't have asked for better weather - it’s perfect, almost like it's some sort of sign from the universe. A sign that she’s doing something right. She rests her hand on the stage but jerks it up suddenly when she feels a sharp pain in it. A splinter. Pulling it out quickly, she makes a mental note to tell Ron to sand down the stage later - can’t have a kid getting hurt, after all. She rests her hands in her lap but doesn't move off the stage - nothing as small as a splinter can ruin today. Running a finger over the sore spot on her palm, she looks up to watch the crowds again.

Andy and April are, of course, together, but this time they seem to be arguing. Leslie frowns, but she knows she shouldn't step in and try and help out - they always seem to make up pretty quickly after their little spats. Tom and his new girlfriend are talking to Ron as he orders from a food cart. She smiles - it’s the third time he’s gone there today, and each time he leaves with a hunk of meat and a slightly better attitude than he normally has. She’s not sure where Donna and Jerry are - hopefully hanging up the flyers she gave them, but probably not. It doesn’t really matter. Even without the flyers, everything seems to be going right.

This crazy idea is going to work.

Ann sits beside her on the stage, her eyes gleaming with excitement. “Can you believe we did it?”

“Of course!’ Leslie exclaims, turning to her. “I knew we could. I mean, look at how amazing our team is. And you, Ann, are the most amazing of them all.”

Leslie puts an arm around her, and they sit together for a while, only getting up so Leslie can help out Jerry (who had obviously not been putting up the flyers). The sun is starting to get to them though, and after a few minutes they go buy some drinks, racing each other to a kid’s lemonade stall down the road.

It’s going to work.

//

Ben fidgets with a pencil. He’s never been a fan of heat, always much preferring being outside when fall comes around. And today’s an unusually hot day, so all he wants is to rip off his stiff office wear and change into something cooler. But he’s at work, so he can't, even though he’s having trouble sitting still. The only fidgeting he can get away with is tapping his pencil against the table.

He tries to focus on the tapping, and not the large man who is now yelling at him while Chris sits passively off to the side. Ben shoots him a glance and he shrugs, as if to say _you got him angry, I don’t know how to help._ Not a surprising reaction from Chris.

“You _cannot_ fire her! She’s the only person in this damn building who actually cares about other people!.”  
_  
tap tap tap  
_  
“She’ll be devastated!’  
_  
tap tap tap  
_  
“Fire me instead! I’d be proud to be a casualty in this righteous war.”

He sighs, interrupting Ron’s rant. “I don't want to fire her, honestly. She has amazing ideas, but she makes the second-highest-”

“You know, right now, she’s spending her own time and money putting up some lousy concert for this city's kids!” Ron stops yelling suddenly as he realizes his mistake.

Ben tries not to react. He’s angry, though - furious, even. Of _course_ she had to ignore his orders and put on the concert anyway. But his face barely changes. Part of his job relies on not losing his cool, after all.  
_  
But you’re not very good at that, are you? You fucked it up with Leslie._

He glances at Chris and gestures for him to get up, plastering on yet another forced smile. “Paul, can you take over the meeting for us? We need to go deal with this.”

Paul nods. Before Chris can grab his bag, Ron sprints out the door. Ben runs out after him, ignoring Chris’ yell or the steadily rising heat in the corridor as he chases after Ron.

He has to stop this concert.

//

“This is amazing, Ann. Thank you.”

“What is? The concert or the drink I bought you?”

“Both.”

The two women sit down in the shade, leaning against the hay bales. All their prep is finally complete - all that’s left is for Donna to pick up Freddy Spaghetti when she comes back.

“I can’t believe Mean Ben tried to cancel it.”

Ann sighs. Leslie isn’t sure why - yes, she’s been talking about him a lot today, but that’s only because he wants to destroy everything they're building. If anything, Ann hasn't been talking about him _enough._

“Can I say something you might not like?”

“Of course! Unless you’re going to insult waffles, of course. Or Li'l Sebastian. Or yourself.”

“You know I would never insult waffles. But seriously, Les, maybe you should… I don’t know, try to see things from Ben’s point of view?”

“WHAT?”

“Hear me out!” Ann rushes. “It’s not his fault that Pawnee is bankrupt. And when I was talking to him at April’s party he seemed nice enough.”

Leslie fumes. Ben Wyatt, the man who came to this town to destroy her future, who wants to ruin her hopes and dreams - and the man she should apparently sympathize with?

“Ann, I don't think you understand,” Leslie starts.

But she loses her voice abruptly when a familiar car pulls up at the lot, another one right behind it. Leaving her cup with Ann, she runs over to where Ron is getting out of his car. She doesn’t need to ask why he’s here - she knows just by the look on his face that something bad is about to happen.

//

“Now my partner Ben wants to say something!”

“Yeah, we're shutting this down.”

“That's terrible news! Surely, there has to be a solution, Ben.”

“No.”

“Ben says no. Sorry, everyone.”

Ben rolls his eyes. Every single time something like this happens, he’s the bad cop. He gets the blame. And right now, he’s the one who has to deal with Leslie _again_ while Chris gets off scot-free.

Ben had considered telling Chris about his soulmate. It might have made Chris take some responsibility to get Ben out of Leslie’s bad books. He certainly hates confrontation, but he hates people being rude to his friend too. He might have helped.

Maybe.

“The concert is canceled, everybody.” Ben doesn't even bother adding a “sorry” to the end of his statement. He knows it won’t matter to Leslie.

She whips around to face him, a flame behind her eyes and a group of her friends watching. Ben just shifts on the balls of his feet, not even trying to get a word in before her. He knows she’ll just interrupt him anyway.

“Here's the thing, though, Ben. It's not canceled. We're putting it on. Okay? Because the stage is already built. All the vendors are here, and most of them even agreed to donate their services for free. Everyone here believes that what we're doing is essential. Freddy Spaghetti will sing.”

“Actually, Leslie,” Donna interrupts, “I just found out. Freddy Spaghetti ain't coming.”

Leslie pauses, and Ben can see her mask slip as she looks around at her friends desperately. She no longer looks just angry, but scared too. Scared for her concert, her friends, her job. And he’s the person taking her job away from her. And now this too. 

_I fucked up_ , he thinks. _I should've just let her have this last concert. And now I’ve taken that from her as well._

When she starts talking again, her voice is wobbly. He can see her hand shaking too as she points a finger at him. “Freddy Spaghetti may not sing. But something much cooler is going to happen.” And she runs off with everyone else trailing behind her. Chris hands him a bottle of water and he takes it gratefully. It really is way too hot out.

//

“When we canceled on him, he took another gig in Eagleton.” Donna pauses. “At a library.”

Groans and protests fill the air, but for once Leslie doesn’t have time to talk about how awful libraries are. She yells to be heard over the noise, and soon everyone is listening to her talk again.

“-so Andy, can’t you do it?”

“I don’t know, I’m not really in the mood for playing right now.”

Leslie takes a deep breath. She cannot let Ben destroy this concert. If she can't convince Andy to play, it’ll all be ruined.

So she manages to convince him, and after she gives her seal of approval on a song called “Pickle Hair” (or something like that, she’s not completely listening), he runs across the field to get his bike. Leslie looks around to find Ben and rub her victory in his face, but he’s nowhere to be found. Oh well. She can brag later. But she's finally beaten him, and that’s something worth celebrating.

“See, guys?” she says, turning to face her friends. “We have a solution. And the good news is there's always a solution if your motives are pure, and your cause is just. There's nothing-”

“OW! My arm!”

//

Ben’s not really sure what happened. One minute he’s just doing his job, the next he’s out 700 dollars and a strange man is sitting with him in his car.

“So why’d you guys rehire me?” the man asks.

Ben glances at the entertainer - he can’t remember his name - and notices the man’s eyes on him.

“Change of plans,” he says shortly. To be fair, it’s not a lie. He hadn't planned on feeling bad about canceling the concert, after all. He hadn't planned on having to fire his soulmate. He hadn't even been the one who had planned to send him and Chris to this town. He had planned none of this.

“Can’t say I mind, you gave me more than the library was offering.” The man grins but Ben doesn't return it. He’s had enough of being polite for today. “You okay, man?”

Ben nods. “Sorry. Bad day.”

“Yeah, must be, considering your concert was almost gone.”

_Leslie thinks her concert **is** gone. And it’s all my fault it’s all my fault it’s all my fault._

“Uh huh.”

//

Leslie watches the crowd before her, the expectant faces of hundreds of children staring up at her. Crap on a spatula. What can she even sing? She doesn't know many children’s songs.  
_  
Everything’s ruined._

 _I am going to murder Ben Wyatt.  
_  
“Um… If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands,” she sings hesitantly.

Chris claps, looking genuinely pleased to be there. She knows he’s probably the only one. But scanning the crowd, looking at hundreds of small, expectant faces looking up at her, she knows she has to keep going. At least for a little bit longer.  
_  
The concert’s ruined. He won._

“If you’re happy and you know it-”

“Clap your hands!’ Leslie spins around to the direction of the voice, recognizing it immediately from the records she listened to at Ann’s house. Freddy runs onto the stage and she feels like she could kiss him, she’s so relieved. He greets the kids, and they start to cheer. Her shoulders slump, and she suddenly realizes that they’ve been tense since she stepped onto the stage.

“Hey, I thought you were playing in Eagleton,” Leslie says, covering the mic with her hand.

He shrugs. “All I know is this guy showed up and made me a much better offer. I am all about the money, babe.”

Leslie looks over to where he’s pointing, expecting to see - well, she doesn’t know who she’s expecting to see. One of her friends, or maybe some generous stranger.

But that’s not who she sees.

“Uh, hey, are you-” she turns back around “- are you sure it was him?”

“Yup.” She doesn't move, _can't_ move. Because she doesn't believe it. The person she’s been fighting all day is the person who hired him. Using his own money. All by himself. “Can you move off the stage, sweetheart?”

She mumbles an apology and hurries off. Ben nods to her as she passes, his brown windbreaker draped over his crossed arms. She could just ignore him. She _could_. But he saved her concert. So she decides to stand next to him - just for a couple of seconds though. Just to say thank you. And then she’ll leave him to find Ann and tell her everything.

//

“Why did you do this?” she asks. The sun is behind him so she’s squinting to face his direction, and for once he could swear she’s actually happy to be talking to him. Looking at her, he watches the sun shining on her hair, and how it makes it look like a halo. And shit, he’s just realizing how nice her smile is. Because it’s finally a real one - and it’s for him. _Crap._ He quickly turns his head away from her and towards the crowd of children. 

“Well, I'm not a monster. I want the kids to have their concert.”  
_  
And you, I want you to have your concert.  
_  
“Aww, Mean Ben has a soft spot.”

“Is that what you guys call me? Mean Ben?”

“No. No, no, no.”

The two stand in comfortable silence for a few moments. Ben taps his fingers on the cup of lemonade she had insisted on buying him - and she was right, it’s really good. But he just can't seem to focus on the concert, or the lemonade, or anything other than her. He has to warn her about the job cuts he has to make, or find a way to save her, or try and fire someone else, or…

He’s not sure what, but he has to do _something._

“Look, this is really great today, but-”

“Can you just stop it? Okay? Just for one moment-”

“No, Leslie. This is important. I… you have to…”

She folds her arms. “I have to what, Ben?”

 _Good question._ He tries to scramble for anything that might prevent him from firing her. She watches him suspiciously as he looks around for anything that might inspire him. He even considers going to Chris but he knows he’s talking to Ann across the lot, so he won't be any help. He finally lands on something, and he blurts it out before he has time to think.

“You probably know that we can’t fire essential workers, right? And, um, Ron’s got the essential role of being the representative for Parks and Rec in the budget meetings. So, you know, we have to fire some people we don't want to, and… well, he’d probably be okay with giving that role up.”

He pauses, waiting to see if she’ll respond. After a few silent seconds pass, he decides she probably won’t. He manages to stammer out a goodbye before escaping over to Chris and Ann. He doesn’t really notice them greeting him, or how hot he was feeling a few seconds ago, or the drops of lemonade that spilled over the side of his cup as he ran and how they’re making his fingers sticky. All he can think about is her.  
_  
Please, **please** , ask Ron for the job._

//

“So, did he give you the job?”

Leslie nods before remembering that Ann can’t see her through the phone. “Yes! Isn’t it amazing? I got to have the concert _and_ I didn't lose my job! I knew they could find enough in the budget to be able to keep everyone. And Mean Ben said it wasn't possible.”

“I don't know if you can call him that anymore. He is the reason you still have a job, after all.”

“Yeah, I guess.” She curls up against the arm of her couch, unable to stretch her legs out without knocking over several large boxes of books. Her mind starts to wander again, like it’s been doing all afternoon since her conversation with Ben. Why did he tell her that? He had no reason to - in fact, he just made his job way harder. And she knows for a fact that he-

“You still there?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Leslie, you've been weird and spacey all day. And I know you’re not nervous about losing your job because Ron just saved you. Tell me what’s wrong.”

She sighs, fidgeting with a loose thread on a cushion. “It's just that… I have no idea why Ben helped me, you know?”

“I think I do,” Ann says tentatively.

“What?! Ann, what is it? You have to tell me.”

“You’re not going to listen.”

“I always listen to you, Ann.” Leslie hears her sigh on the other end. She knows that Ann’s almost certainly curled up on her couch too, with the tv running silently in front of her. Probably some nature documentary that she had been watching before Leslie called. She pictures her now, picking at a hangnail like she always does when she’s nervous. “Come on, tell me!”

“So… you know how he said your soul words?” Ann pauses, obviously waiting for a response. Leslie can almost hear her holding her breath. But she’s wrong. She was wrong when she said it at the Snakehole, and she’s wrong now. Leslie starts to speak, but then stops - she doesn't know what she wants to say. _You're being an idiot. It can't be him. It can't be it can't be it can't-_

“You know what, Ann? You were right. I’m not going to listen to you.” She hangs up quickly, before Ann has a chance to reply. She almost throws her phone across the room, but quickly decides against it and throws the cushion instead, wishing she could throw it in Ann’s face. No, Ann doesn't deserve that. She's just trying to help. Ben’s face.

She knows what Ann was about to say. And the way she knows that is because it’s what she's been thinking all day, ever since she found herself smiling at him and noticing how his eyes looked in the sun. But it _cannot_ be him. He did one small thing to help her, that's all. Anyway, he’ll be gone in a few months, and everyone will all be better off without him slashing their hopes and dreams.

Well, he did save two of her hopes and dreams in the span of a couple of hours. But that’s not because he likes her, that’s just being a decent person. He said why he paid Freddy - for the kids. And he helped her with her job because he knows she doesn't deserve to lose it. That's all. Not because of any “soulmate bond”. They’re acquaintances at best and rivals at worst and that’s not going to change anytime soon. She sits up quickly after that final thought, and suddenly realizes that she's exhausted.

She slumps off her couch and upstairs, flopping onto her bed fully clothed. Normally, she barely sleeps at all. But she didn't get any sleep the night before tonight (too busy planning for the concert) and today was tiring. She shrugs off her shoes and jacket before realizing she’ll probably be too hot in her work clothes, so she begrudgingly gets up and changes into an oversized t-shirt before snuggling up under the covers and trying not to think about him.

//

Caramel.

That’s what his eyes looked like.


	7. Chapter 7

TOP FIVE RULES FOR THE SAKE OF MY SANITY:

Don’t get too comfortable anywhere  
Under NO circumstances am I allowed to get upset about cutting anything  
Chris has my back; I need to have his  
Work and emotions need to be separate   
NO FRIENDS

//

Ben’s woken up in the middle of the night by his ringtone. Grumbling, he checks his alarm clock as he scrambles to find his phone (the socket is so far away from the nightstand that his phone can't reach it when it’s charging). 1:34 am. His fingers finally reach the screen and he squints as the bright light meets his eyes. Ann’s calling him. Confused, he accepts the call and sits up against the backboard of his bed.

“It’s the middle of the night,” he whispers. The motel walls are very thin.

“No shit, Wyatt.”

“So why are you calling me now?” He fumbles in the dark for the small lamp on his table and manages to turn it on. It’s not very powerful but it lights up the small room enough that he can see the peeling paint on the opposite wall.

“I was already up and talking to Leslie. She just now decided to go to sleep or I would've called earlier. But she said that you saved her job.”

“I- yeah, I did. So?”

“So, I know you’re not supposed to do that. Why did you?” There’s a curious note in her voice that worries Ben.

“She deserves her job.”

“Is that all?”  
_  
No._ “Yes.”

“You sure?”

He sighs. “Ann, I’ve had a long day. Unless you have something else to say, I’d like to go back to sleep.”

“Nope, nothing else to say.” She sounds smug, and even though Ben can’t figure out why, it annoys him.

“Goodnight then.”

“Goodnight. And thanks for helping her.”

Ben hangs up and puts his phone back on the floor, putting it on silent as he does so. He takes a glance around the cheap motel room before he turns the light off. No matter how much he wishes it would, he knows the room won't magically clean itself up and look nice. He flops back down onto the lumpy mattress, giving up on trying to find a comfortable spot. He doesn't get much sleep for the rest of the night.

//

Leslie walks into her meeting with a spring in her step. The concert had been a huge success, she’s still got her job, and she has a lot more energy than usual (probably due to getting around five hours of sleep compared to her normal two). She smiles at Chris and Ben as she stands by the table where they’re sitting, putting her bag onto the floor. The former smiles back as he finishes rolling up a yoga mat, the latter merely nods. He doesn't seem happy to see her at all - in fact, he seems almost angry. _Well, it’s your fault I’m here,_ she thinks as Chris greets her.

“Chris, could I talk to Ben alone for a second?”

“Of course! I was meaning to do a jog around the town today anyway,” he replies, reaching for a pair of headphones and some sunglasses.

“No, no, no, you don't have to do that, it won’t take too lo-” Chris cuts her off by yelling his goodbyes to them before sprinting down the corridor.

Ben rolls his eyes at him fondly before turning back to Leslie. “What’s up?”

“Well, I came here to thank you for letting me keep my job.” Ben starts to protest but she speaks over him. “Shut up and let me do this, okay?”

“It wasn't a big deal.”

“Wrong. It was.” She pulls a couple of things out of her bag. “First, a homemade thank-you card. It could do with some more glitter, but I wasn't able to get any in the middle of the night. Michael’s really needs to stay open later.”

“Thank you, Leslie, but-”

She thrusts it into his hands, flakes of glitter falling onto the table. “Second, a batch of thank-you cookies. I didn’t have time to ice your face but they spell out a message - here, look-” she starts to arrange the cookies on top of some napkins “-and they taste really good. The third thing is-”

“Leslie, this is really thoughtful, but-”

“Do you have to keep interrupting me?” she asks. “Is whatever you have to say more important than this?”

“Yes.” He looks up from the pile of cookies on the table to look at her.

Leslie bites her lip to keep herself from yelling at him again. Who is he, to think whatever he wants to say is more important than a Leslie Knope thank you? She mentally rips up the plans she was making for a party in his honor - he might have helped her but he certainly doesn't deserve that much. “Fine. Tell me,” she says, crossing her arms.

“You might want to sit down.” She does so, pulling one of the rickety old chairs out from under the table and sitting quickly, desperate to finish her thank you. Her hand is already reaching for the final item as Ben continues talking, his voice low and tense. “We will be shutting down the government until further notice.”

She freezes. “I’m sorry, you’ll be doing what?”

//

Leslie looks up from her plate of feel-better waffles after having piled on a small mountain of whipped cream. She notices the other woman's concerned gaze and tries to plaster on a convincing smile. “Ann, how do you always know when to come? Like when I found out the concert was canceled, you came then. And you came this time too.”

“Chris tells me,” she replies quickly. “He- whenever they have to cut something he lets me know so I can be ready if you need me. And I’m not needed at the hospital today, so” -she fiddles with the straw of her drink- “I was able to come quickly.”

“You know, I’ve already told you how amazing you are but I think I should tell Chris how amazing he is too! It’s really nice that he does that for me.” 

“Uh, maybe you shouldn't.”

“Why not?”

“He- he told me I shouldn't tell you that it was him or he could get in trouble. Something about leaking classified information to the public, I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Leslie scoops a large forkful of cream into her mouth. “The public will find out about the closures pretty soon anyway though.”

Ann shrugs. “Yeah. How are you feeling about the closures, by the way? I know you must be upset, but-”

“I am going to murder Ben.”

“Why? He just saved your job, remember?”

“Exactly! I thought I could trust him, you know?” She cuts off another piece of her waffles. “And then he goes and does this! I made him thank-you cookies, Ann. _Thank-you cookies._ Those are special. I just- I feel-” she gestures frantically with her fork as she tries to find a word “-betrayed! Yes, betrayed! And I don’t know why, we were never friends or anything, but I just-”

Ann puts one of her hands on top of Leslie’s. “I get it, don't worry.” 

“No, you don't, I… I think we might have been soulmates.” Leslie flinches as she hears the words come out of her mouth - the words she has been trying to avoid ever since he first spoke to her. _Soulmates._ She quickly continues before Ann can reply. “But I think the universe fucked up, because obviously we’re not meant to be! He’s a jackass and it- it’s all just a big mistake, and it’s just hard because, you know, you hear about soulmates who just don't work out but you never think it would happen to you! And now it has. And Ann, you know I value your opinion over everyone else’s put together, but if you try and tell me that I should “give him a chance” or something like that, I will-”

“I won’t, I won’t. Don't worry. Just don’t murder him, you want to make sure you’ll still have your job when the government reopens, okay?”

At a rare loss for words, Leslie just nods and quickly changes the topic, talking about an interesting old newspaper she had found while she was cooking dinner the other day. They stay there for a few hours, talking about a variety of things, none of them particularly important. Leslie just needs a distraction and Ann is happy to provide one. The two pay for their bill (three large helpings of waffles for Leslie, juice and a salad for Ann) and grab their coats off the hanger as they walk out the door.

“Hey, Les, you doing anything tomorrow? Chris and I were thinking of going bowling.”

“Oh Ann, I don't know if I'm in the mood.”

“Come on, it’ll be fun! You can try and beat Chris, he’s really good. And it could take your mind off… things.”

Leslie weighs her options. Moping around at home, or moping with Ann and Chris. The latter sounds better - at least there’ll be a chance of a good time with them. And any opportunity to prove her strength at bowling is one she can’t miss. “Okay, I don't see why not.”

“See you at the bowling alley at 1 then? The one by the park, you know it.”

“Sounds good!”

//  
_  
How is she? (12:43)  
**  
Not good (2:49)  
She’s already plotting your murder (2:49)**  
Shit (2:50)  
I hate doing this. She doesn't deserve it (2:50) **  
It’s your job. She gets it. I think (2:50)**  
Are you two finally finished talking? (2:53) **  
Nope. She just left to order again (2:53)**  
Good lord (2:53)  
How long does she normally take to calm down? (2:53) **  
Hours (2:54)**  
I’d go insane if I were you (2:54)  
**Gtg (2:54)**  
Good luck (2:54)  
**  
Leslie’s the best. She only drives me insane sometimes (4:22)  
If you say anything rude about her again I will help her kill you (4:22)**  
Sorry (4:26)  
So is she feeling better? (4:26) **  
You should be (4:26)  
And yes (4:27)**  
That’s good (4:27)  
**  
Hey, do you want to come bowling with me and Chris tomorrow? (5:10)**  
No. (5:11) **  
Boo (5:11)  
It’ll be fun (5:11)**  
I have work to do (5:11)  
Also, you’ll just yell at me about Leslie (5:12) **  
I promise I won’t (5:12)**  
  
Ben! (5:23)  
I’m not going to go bowling with you guys (5:23)  
Sorry Chris (5:23)  
Why not? (5:23)  
Your girlfriend hates me (5:24)  
I’m sure that’s not true! (5:24)  
Come on, you gloomy goose. Come spread your wings and learn to fly again!!! (5:24)  
??? (5:24)  
I want you to come bowling with us (5:25)  
I have way too much work (5:27)  
:( (5:27)_

 _Fine. (5:57)  
Great! We'll see you then! (5:57)  
**  
Thanks, Ben (6:01)**  
I’m only doing this for him (6:01) **  
Can't wait to see you too (6:01)  
Okay so, tomorrow at 1. I’ll send the address (6:02)**  
Great (6:02)  
_  
//

The last person Leslie expects to see waiting outside the _Rock N’ Roll Bowling Alley_ is Ben Wyatt, but for some reason, here he is. His arms are folded and he’s tapping his foot impatiently, and he does _not_ look happy to see her.

“Why are you here?” she asks.

“I'm meeting with Chris and Ann? Why are you- oh god, no, please don’t tell me-”

She nods. “Did she tell you I would be here?” He shakes his head. “Ugh, why did she do this?” she says, more to herself than to Ben. Leslie has a very good guess at what's going on and she is not happy about it. She refuses to acknowledge her suspicion, though. It can wait until later.

The two stand in a tense silence for what feels like hours, but is probably only a few minutes, until Ann and Chris arrive. Ann’s smile is worrying - it suggests that some sort of mischief is about to happen. Leslie sighs, her good mood gone, and greets her friends as if nothing is wrong.

//

Ben knew he shouldn't have come.

Leslie has been cold to him since the second she arrived and he knows why - how could he not? He would say it’s understandable, but it's not. After all, she went behind his back to have her concert while he was saving her job. He's not asking for anything special, but some politeness wouldn't go amiss. She seems hellbent on ignoring him and only talking to the others, though, so he sits on one of the uncomfortable plastic seats for a while until Ann seems to remember his existence.

“Now we need to decide on teams,” she says.

“I’ll play with you, Ann!” Leslie exclaims at the same time as Ben mumbles something about going with Chris. Leslie turns towards Ann and raises her arms as if to say ‘ _see, it’s all sorted out_ ’, still refusing to look in Ben's direction.

“I was sort of hoping I could play with Chris, though.”

“I’m sorry,” Chris interjects, “but I have to excuse myself from this argument. Conflict can make my blood pressure way too high, I can't risk it.” He takes his arm off Ann’s waist and sits down next to Ben. Neither man acknowledges the other.

“You can't abandon your friend the second you find your soulmate!”

“We come here at least three times a month and every time we've split into teams I've always been with you. Can you let me play with someone else just this once? I promise next time I’ll play with you.”

Leslie pouts. “Ann, you know it’s not just that. I…” Ben strains to hear the rest of their conversation but Leslie has lowered her voice to a whisper. It doesn't matter, he has a pretty good guess of what she's saying anyway. Somehow, after half a minute or so, Ann seems to have convinced her and she starts inputting the teams into the monitor triumphantly as Leslie watches, fuming. Chris gets up as Ann waves him over, and Leslie grudgingly sits next to Ben.

He sighs. It’s going to be a long afternoon.

//

Not only is Ben Wyatt a jerk, but he’s also crappy at bowling, Leslie finds out. Her team is still managing to beat Ann’s, but only by a few points and with no help from him. She watches as her ball knocks down all the pins (again) and pumps the air with her fist. Chris cheers.

“Leslie, you are truly spectacular!”

“Thanks!” she replies, beaming. He high fives her and Ann follows suit. Leslie’s teammate, however, does nothing. His head has been stuck in a large book for the past half an hour, only ever looking up when he needs to take his turn. The book looks at least 500 pages long - why he was carrying it with him to go to a bowling alley, Leslie has no clue.

“D’you guys want any drinks?” Ann asks. “My treat.”

“I’ll have a milkshake please,” Leslie asks.

Ann nods. “Ben?”

He doesn't look. “No.”

“ _Rude_ ,” Ann mouths silently to Leslie, who nods in agreement. “Chris, babe, can you come with me and give me a hand?” Leslie tries to butt in and say that she’ll come, but Chris replies before she has a chance and the two leave together. She stares at Ben, who is still ignoring her.

“I can't believe she stuck me here with you,” she mutters to herself.

“I don't want to be here either, Leslie,” he replies, lifting his head.

“You could at least try and be polite!”

“Yeah, you were so polite when you told Ann you didn't want to play on a team with me.”

“You heard that?”

“Yes. You're not very good at being sneaky.”

“I’m great at being sneaky.”

“Clearly you are not.”

Leslie scoffs. “God, I can’t believe she thinks you’re-” She quickly cuts herself off, only continuing when she notices Ben looking at her curiously. “Never mind.”

“Okay,” he replies, then continues reading his book. Leslie can see her friends still ordering across the building and she has absolutely no intentions of continuing a conversation with Ben, so she decides to just wait for the others to return. Ann keeps shooting her meaningful glances and she shakes her head every time. She will do almost anything for Ann, but befriending Ben is where she draws the line.

//

By the time the game is over (he and Leslie won, but neither of them are particularly happy about it), Ben is thoroughly regretting his offer to drive Chris back to the motel. He needs a beer. Or four.

“Ben!” Ann yells, waving him over to where she’s putting on her shoes. “Did you have fun?”

He ignores her question. “What are you doing, Ann?”

“Tying my laces,” she quips.

“You know what I mean. Why are you forcing me to spend time with Leslie?”

She shrugs, standing up. “I thought it might make her job easier if the two of you didn't hate each other.”

“I don’t ha-” He sighs. “Well, your plan didn't work. She hates me more than ever now.” Chris yells at him from the doors, saying something about the parking ticket running out. Ben quickly says goodbye to her and rushes out to meet him. He tries (and fails) to ignore Leslie’s glare as he passes her.

//

The second time Leslie sees Ben over the summer is also Ann’s fault. The two women had planned to meet and play a round of mini-golf together but Ann had very conveniently neglected to mention that Ben would be coming too. Even more conveniently, she got a call from Saint Joseph’s saying she was needed for an emergency very early on into the game, so she rushed off, leaving the other two alone.

Leslie’s no idiot, she knows that Ann wants the two of them to make up. After all, she seems convinced that the universe _didn't_ make a mistake and that the two of them are destined to be together. Leslie is very sure that they’re not. But she goes along with it and doesn't leave Ben (no matter how much she wants to), and the two of them keep playing. It’s less tense than the bowling alley, and the two of them chat a bit - nothing much, just small talk. But it’s something.

Somehow, Ben beats her - but only by a few points, as she points out before he has a chance to gloat. Right before she’s about to leave, he pulls her aside and apologizes. He says something about unfairness and cruelty and necessity, but she can't get herself to focus on the words coming out his mouth. She’s mostly just surprised that he’s bothering to apologize to her, considering how badly she took it the first time he tried. 

But she accepts the apology, and starts one of her own but he cuts her off and says it's fine, he understands. They stand there in silence for a few moments and Leslie knows she should just leave it there, she _knows_ she shouldn't push him, but she does anyway. She asks him if he really knows anything at all about her job, if he’s ever done anything like it before. She sees him stiffen up as he says that yes, he does, and it’s none of her business, before storming off.

When Ann calls her later to ask her if she and Ben had fun, she leaves out the last bit.

//

The third time Ben sees Leslie over the summer is Ann’s fault _again_ and quite frankly, he’s sick of it. Chris had convinced him to go out, only mentioning Ann after Ben had said yes. Even though Chris was technically the reason Ben got involved, he's still blaming Ann. He knows Chris was asking on her behalf, after all. He also knows that Leslie will be there, and she’s the one person he’s trying to avoid right now. 

He goes anyway. He’s not sure why.

As soon as he sits down at the bar, Leslie comes over. They talk for a bit and it’s slightly awkward, but when isn't it? He knows why she’s really talking to him, though. She wants to know about the job she asked about last time, the answer to the question that made him snap at her. So he tells her about Ice Town. She listens and he pauses occasionally to judge her reaction. She seems less appalled than he expected her to be. Most people, upon hearing that he single-handedly bankrupted a town, judge him, insult him, laugh at him. Multiple people with relatives from Partridge have even attacked him. But Leslie just listens, and tells him that it’s good that he tried something, it shows that he cared. It’s nice to hear her say that. Lord knows he doesn't hear things like that often. He leaves the bar shortly after, claiming to feel ill.

When Ann innocently asks how his evening was, he doesn't answer her question. He just tells her to stop. He doesn't say what she needs to stop, and he doesn't need to. As soon as Ann starts to protest, claiming she doesn't understand what he means, he hangs up.

He’s had enough of both her and Leslie for a lifetime.

//

The fourth time Leslie sees Ben over the summer is an accident. Her neighbour is ill, so she volunteered to walk his dog. They're strolling past the lake in Ramsett Park, enjoying the midday sun, when she sees Ben. He’s sitting on a bench, a book in one hand and a coffee cup in the other.

She decides to go talk to him. He looks very lonely, after all, alone in a park full of families and couples. Surprisingly, he doesn't turn her away, and they talk for a while.

She learns that he’s scared of dogs when she sees him back away from Milo as he bounds up to say hello. He claims he was just shocked to see something large and black running towards him, but she can tell he’s lying.

She learns that he’s really into science fiction when she asks what he’s reading and he starts to gush about some fictional characters she’s never heard of. It’s a new side of him that she hasn't seen before. Seeing the normally withdrawn Ben be so passionate about something is… strange. Whether it's in a good way or not, she can't decide. When he realizes he's been talking for nearly half an hour, he flushes and puts the book away, clearly embarrassed. She tells him it’s fine, and they decide to go get ice cream together.

She learns that, surprisingly, he likes ice cream a lot. He originally just gets one scoop of chocolate, claiming that he doesn't want much. She sees him eyeing her sundae, though, and she ends up letting him have some. They both end up going back to the stall for seconds. They stay at the table for a while after they’ve finished, with Milo wrapped around her legs and watching a nearby group of ducks. She doesn't realise how late it's gotten until Ben picks up his phone to check a text and says that it’s past six in the evening. She’s been out for over five hours. She quickly says goodbye to Ben and rushes back home to return Milo to his worried owner.

When Ann calls that night, Leslie doesn't mention Ben at all.

//

The fifth time Ben sees Leslie over the summer is Leslie’s fault. They had been texting a bit ever since they met at the park that day, Ben having given Leslie his number so he could update her on how long the shutdown might last for.

The morning he told her that the shutdown was coming to an end after three long months was the first time she called him. As soon as he answered she started talking at a million miles a minute about some diner she loved and was planning on visiting with Ann. When he told her he hadn't even heard of it, she insisted that the two of them go together to celebrate the end of the shutdown.

He’s tired, and stressed, and quite frankly not in the mood to interact with people. He goes anyway.

He initially suspects Chris has put her up to it - he’s always trying to get Ben to go out more - but based on the insanely large quantity of waffles Leslie consumes throughout the hours they spend there, the meet-up doesn't seem Chris-approved. Ben just gets a coffee, and later a burger when he realizes they’re going to be there a lot longer than anticipated. Oh, and part of a waffle Leslie forced him to eat to prove that they’re the best in the world. He lies and says it’s just fine but it tastes a lot better than he'd like to admit.

Leslie talks a lot about herself. Normally, that would annoy him, but for some reason he likes hearing her talk. It’s something about the way she manages to find joy in the most mundane things, he realizes mid-way through a story about how she heroically fought to get some extra grass seed for Lafayette Park. He, of course, is the exact opposite.

She ends up telling him parts of her life story: her childhood, her dad’s death, various college experiences and how her mother inspired her to join the government. He listens, mostly. She asks him a few questions every time she notices that she’s been talking too much; at first, his replies are only a few words long, but he eventually starts to tell stories too. They're never as long or as detailed as hers, but they're stories nonetheless.

//

Ben has learned that a strict set of rules is necessary to be able to survive moving around so much. He made a list for fun a few years ago, and later started to update it regularly. Some of the rules are extremely important. Most aren't, such as number 14 ( _always bring home a souvenir if you can find one_ ) or number 28 ( _carry a water bottle at all times or Chris will lecture you for hours_ ). The important ones are on a separate list, with the number-one rule underlined and written in capital letters. If he’s honest, it sucks, but his number-one rule has never failed him yet.

As Leslie waves goodbye to him at the diner, however, yelling enthusiastically about seeing him at work, he’s suddenly worried that he might have to break it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as normal, sorry for the slow updates!  
> i'm not a fast writer and i have fics in other fandoms i've been working on but i do have an outline for this story and i have no plans on abandoning it!


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